UAE industrial investment reaches Dhs77bn

Investment in the UAE's industrial sector reached Dhs77 billion (£15 billion) in 2008, the Ministry of Economy has announced.

A new report published by the body shows that there are now 4,219 industrial units in the UAE, employing in excess of 318,000 people, with industrial firms recording strong growth between 2004 and 2008.

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE minister of economy, said that the industrial sector has helped to underpin the unprecedented growth witnessed in the emirates in recent years.

"The policy of economic diversification and the efforts to encourage industries and manufacturing have paid strong dividends," he added.

He also iterated that the ministry will continue to strengthen the UAE's position as a high-tech industrial hub in the Gulf region.

Success stories of the past four years have been the energy, petrochemicals and metals industries, the minister concluded.

Elsewhere, the director-general of Dubai Department of Economic Development Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi has told Emirates Business that indications show that the UAE economy grew by as much as 16 per cent in 2008.